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In the world of Entertainment Weekly, Scranton is a go-to destination, thanks to those drones from Dunder Mifflin.
The Electric City was among a group of 21 U.S. locales selected for a map listing the Most Entertaining Places of the Year in the pop culture magazine’s Nov. 30 issue.
EW staff writer Whitney Pastorek, who worked on the feature, said the reason behind the city’s inclusion on the list was all about “The Office,” the Scranton-set NBC sitcom set at the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Co.
“We couldn’t not put Scranton on there. ‘The Office’ had a huge year. Plus the convention,” Ms. Pastorek said, referring to the first “Office” Convention held in downtown Scranton in October. “You could now say ‘The Office’ has literally put Scranton on the map.
“You’ve got what many people would say is the funniest show on TV,” said Ms. Pastorek. “It’s just one of those pop culture phenomenons.”
In the piece, Scranton’s spot on the map is identified only as “Welcome to Scranton, Pa.” — a reference to the real-life “Welcome to Scranton” sign that appears in the show’s opening credits, Ms. Pastorek said.
Among the other places on the list are: New Jersey, due to the high-profile triumvirate of Bruce Springsteen, John Bon Jovi and Tony Soprano; Las Vegas’ Palms Casino Resort, site of Britney Spears’ MTV Video Music Awards performance; Manchester, Tenn., home of the Bonnaroo Music Festival; and the Los Angeles office of Judd Apatow, the producer behind “Knocked Up” and “Superbad.”
“It was a good, fun process to think back over the year and remember all the locations that stick with you,” Ms. Pastorek said. “And some of them are for good reasons and some of them are for bad reasons.”
For Scranton, it’s all good.
Contact the writer: jmcauliffe@timesshamrock.com